[bung]

I was watching Inspector Morse recently for the first time and modern beer was something the character was against. I'd never heard of the history really, so ended up reading this entire Wikipedia article on Beer in England, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_England, enjoyed the read.

[somenameforme]

At a quick skim that doesn't seem to mention that the main reason it was a staple for everybody, including children. It's because it was safer than water. The water it's made from is boiled eliminating any funkiness, and by the end the alcohol it has in it makes it inhospitable to said funkiness. By contrast stagnant water is a breeding ground for all sorts of stuff you generally wouldn't want to consume.

[ffgjgf1]

Isn’t that mainly a myth some people on the internet are very adamant about repeating for some reason?

> The water it's made from is boiled eliminating any funkiness, and by the end the alcohol it has in it makes it inhospitable to said funkiness

Except ale produced at home goes bad very fast. In the middle ages it basically had to be consumed on premise/same village and couldn’t be transported anywhere. Also it’s a wonderful and nutritious environment for bacteria to spread. The alcohol content is generally much too low to affect this.